Journey To The End
by ImaTVJunkie
Summary: This is the final story of my Trilogy including "There Are No Coincidences" and "A Life To Live". Angel and Temperance are facing a massive challenge. Bringing up children with "gifts". Children that are prophecised to be the downfall of Wolfram & Hart. PLEASE NOTE: This story is AU. Read, hopefully you'll enjoy it, comment if you wish. I appreciate you sticking with me on this!
1. Chapter 1

_"So are we in this together?" Angela asked, holding her cup towards them._

_Angel and Temperance turned and stared at each other, then down at the babies in their arms. Their sweet faces, their chubby hands, their perfect fingernails. They looked back at each other and Temperance sucked in a breath. She turned and looked at Angela. The resolve in her face evident. _

_She lifted her mug and held it high, and looked back at Angel. He looked back down at his daughter, gently slipping his pinky finger out of her mouth and picked up his mug. The corner of his mouth pulling up into a half smile. He felt his chest fill with pride and love for this woman. She was a scientist. An academic. A genius. She had lived in a world of order and common sense and scientific facts. He had somehow broken through that crusty old wall that she had surrounded herself with, where the supernatural, the inexplicable, the weird and the unbelievable never penetrated. She had opened herself up to him. Let it all in. Believed in him. Loved him unconditionally. She had taken him to her and borne him children. And now she was about to follow him once again into a place where she had never trodden. And he loved her._

_He held his mug out and pulled his gaze away from her eyes, and looked at Angela who was smiling widely. He trusted this little woman completely. He had no choice but to. _

_"We are about to embark on a journey my friends. Together we shall triumph. As it is written." Angela spoke. She clinked her mug against theirs and took a long draught. Angel and Temperance also drank. The three of them sat at the table and just stared at the sleeping forms of the babies that were going to be their salvation. _

_Temperance looked up at Angel and leaned in close to him and whispered in his ear "I still don't know why she keeps pouring me cups of that god-awful black sludge." Angel burst out laughing and felt his spirit lift. It was going to be alright. He just knew it._

* * *

Angel sat in the deck chair watching his four children playing in the yard. Cordy had taken charge again. As she always did. Organizing everyone into their given roles in the game. She was the General. Again. Seeley was Captain, and Max and Kathy were her minions. He smiled and shook his head. Even in play, they were preparing, and they had no idea. Temperance sat down on the arm of his chair and pulled his head to her. They sat leaning into each other watching their four children unknowingly train for something that none of them understood.

It had been three years since they found out about their children and the so called "gifts" they had inherited. Angel still had moments of guilt over it all. He felt responsible. Seeley and Cordy, who were almost ten, were not genetically his children, although doctors would beg to differ. His DNA was identical to their biological father, and in his heart, he was certainly their daddy. But their abilities were an anomaly.

Even Angela Anderson, their neighbour and it turned out, guide, had been stumped as to how these two became entrenched in the mess that was the Shanshu. All she could ascertain was that two protectors were prophesised. Angel and Temperance had assumed that would be them. But it had become increasingly apparent that it was Seeley and Cordy. Seeley was psychic and had recently developed signs of kinesis.

Cordy, whilst not having any obvious supernatural talents was a natural soldier. She was a fierce competitor and extremely athletic. Her gymnastics teacher said that she was a one in five hundred thousand find. He desperately wanted to groom her for the Olympics, but Angel and Temperance had turned her down. There was something far more important in her future.

"Daddy! Daaaaddy! wailed Kathy. Angel jumped up and ran over to his tiny daughter. She was being held down by Cordy, who was insisting she fight to get up. Kathy was three, delicate and sensitive. She was the spitting image of Angel, apart from the large cornflower blue eyes she had inherited from her mother. "Cordy, please. She's too little and you know she doesn't like fighting." Angel said as he gently pulled Cordy off of her sister.

"Well how is she ever going to know how to get out of a headlock if I don't teach her!" Cordy said, staring up at her father. He smiled at her, it was like looking at himself as a small child. It always amused him that all four of his children looked exactly like him, although Seeley and Kathy had inherited their mothers gorgeous blue eyes, the rest of their features was purely him, from their wide brows, to their strong noses and chins, and wide mouths with large straight teeth flanked by deep dimples that deepened even further when they smirked or smiled widely.

Max and Seeley ran over to see what was going on. Three heads of wavy warm reddish brown hair bobbed around him as he picked up Kathy and brushed the dirt off her face. "She always does this Dad." Cordy complained. Seeley put his hand on Cordy's arm "She is only three. Maybe she's just too young to play this game" he tried to reason with her. Cordy stared into her twins eyes and then looked up at Angel. "Fine. We'll play something else. More suited to a _baby_." she poked her tongue out at Kathy who promptly burst into tears.

"Oh Cordy, must you be such a bully?" Angel shook his head and patted Kathy's curls as she cried into his shoulder. Max turned and shoved Cordy "You always make my sissy cry!" he said in his little voice. "She's my sister too. You two are just babies!" yelled Cordy and she grabbed Seeley by the hand and tried to pull him away. "Come on Seels. We can play something by ourselves. We don't want to hurt the _little babies_" she sneered again. Seeley reached up and patted Kathy's back. "If you like I'll play something you want to Kathy" he said sweetly. Kathy looked down at her big brother, wiping her eyes on her arm and shook her head. She stared at Seeley who nodded and rubbed her back again. "OK Kathy, we'll play later on." He grinned at her and ran after Cordy. Max stood nearby, apart from the others, his head in the air. _he's sensing something _ Angel thought as he watched his tiny son.

Both Kathy and Max were unusual children compared to what was considere the _average_ three year old. They had tried taking them to playgroups when they were younger, but Temperance was always worried that Max would bite someone, or Kathy would just stare at people and _talk_ to them in their heads, which if you didn't understand what was happening, could be quite frightening.

Kathy was empathic and psychic. She often forgot to talk, instead, communicating by pushing her thoughts into ones head. Temperance would often be woken up by a voice in her head. Kathy wanted her and just called her psychically rather than coming to find her and tell her what she wanted. They were trying to deter her from doing this, but it was not easy. How did you explain to a toddler that she was different, and that other children didn't talk in their heads. It was proving to be a difficult exercise. And fortunately, although she was showing signs of being empathic, she was not experiencing anything other than being overly sensitive at times. They were not looking forward to dealing with a child who might possibly feel every pain or sadness of another person.

Then there was Max, who was a Dhampir according to Angela. Which is in layman's terms, half human, half vampire. Max had developed certain senses that Angel could relate to. He had an incredible sense of smell, and could tell you who was going to knock on the door before they had even come up the front path. He had early signs of being able to glamour, which is sort of like hypnotising a person, something that most vampires are quite adept at, but not something you want a three year old being able to do. Angel had often found himself getting a large bowl of icecream and carrying it to Max and Kathy after reading them a bedtime story, when he knew they had already had icecream with their dinner.

Max was extremely quick when he moved at times, he could run like the wind, and his vision was just as good at night as it was during the day. He also healed extremely quickly when injured, his skin never retaining any scarring of any kind. The only downside so far, was his taste for blood. He had developed a bad habit of sucking or licking his own wounds if they bled. Something that upset Temperance greatly. They had been trying to teach him that if he hurt himself and it bled, to come straight inside and get a bandage. But he would often be found licking some scratch or scrape while coming to find Mommy or Daddy.

Their worst nightmare came one day when Kathy had fallen over and scraped her hand. Granted he did help her up and they did come inside for a bandage, however Max was _helping _his sister by licking the blood off her hand so it didn't get on her dress. Angel had had a very long talk with Max after that. Trying to make him understand that it was not good for him to do that. Max however was only two and a half at the time, so there was a limit as to how much he could understand what his father was saying. Angela had warned them that it was going to be hard work raising these two incredible little beings. She wasn't joking.

The settled quiet family life that Angel and Temperance had been lulled into was long gone. It was going to be a rocky, uneven path that they traversed from now on. What the future held for their children was still not quite clear. Angela Anderson was spending a lot of time researching and poring over ancient scrolls and etchings she had pilfered from Wolfram & Hart many years ago and hidden in her house. She was hoping that she would be able to find some clues as to how these gifted children were going to bring down Wolfram & Hart. _IF_ they were actually going to. That part was still not exactly clear.

Granted it was not going to happen for many years, if in fact it happened at all. Prophecies were occasionally misinterpreted due to the fact that they were never written in a language that translated perfectly into English. They also often held encrypted information that required other scrolls to translate them, or that needed to be read together to correctly understand their meaning. Angel had no patience for prophecies. They had never brought him anything other than grief. Temperance however, was fascinated by them, and she would often spend hours at Angela's home poring over the delicate documents with the elderly woman. She was becoming quite good at translating some of the hieroglyphs, which impressed Angela greatly. It also made Temperance feel less detached from the rest of them, being the only so-called _normal_ one.

Kathy stopped crying and sat curled up in Angels arms, her nose pressed against his neck. He became aware of a thought in his head. He turned and kissed his daughters head. "OK pumpkin, we'll go inside and I'll read you a story." he said softly. Kathy smiled and kissed his neck softly and wrapped her arms tighter around her father's neck as he walked towards the house. Temperance walked over to Max and patted him gently on the shoulder, wanting to break his trance without scaring him. He looked up at his mother and grinned a smile that she recognised immediately, and smiled back down at her little reincarnation of Angel.

"Do you want to come inside and have a drink Max?" She asked him. He stood for a moment, his head cocked to one side staring just past her shoulder. "Do you think we should help that cat down from the tree first mommy?" he asked her. She turned around and looked in the direction that he was staring. The closest tree was about 190 yards away, across 3 back yards. She squinted, but couldn't see anything. She turned back to him and distracted his vision. "I think she will be able to get down, or her owner will help her" she said, gently turning him and propelling him towards the house. "OK." Max said "but he's a boy" he added.

Temperance stared down at him and shook her head. This gift of his was continually growing and expanding. She had considered not enrolling them in kindergarten next year, but she knew that she had to treat them the same way as their other children, as difficult as that was going to be. _we have a year to get them socially ready. A whole year. That's doable. Right?_ she thought in her head.

Max tugged on her hand "We'll be good at kindy mommy. I promise I won't bite anyone and I'll tell Kathy to talk to people with her mouth, OK?" he said and ran off into the house leaving her standing with her mouth hanging open watching him.

"And now he reads thoughts" she said out loud.


	2. Chapter 2

Temperance sat along the wall of the gymnasium along with the other mothers. She rarely spoke to them. They were shallow and quite oblivious to their children's limitations and abilities. She looked up from her laptop long enough to watch Valerie's daughter, Amelia completely destroy a set of back flips on the balance beam. She smirked and looked back down at the words on the screen. Valerie turned to Audrey, another vacuous woman concerned with her weight compared to her daughters, and started raving about how perfectly her daughter executed her exercises. How perfect her feet were, her arms, how her neck elongates perfectly.

Temperance rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. She was about to say something about Amelia's disproportionate length of thigh to torso, making her physically inappropriately built for gymnastics, when she heard Cordy's name called. She allowed her attention to be drawn away from the gossiping mothers, and watched her daughter stand at the corner of the mat. Her eyes were closed, her face serene and quite beautiful. Her arms raised above her head her hands relaxed, almost as if they were touching some soft, invisible cloud above her, her neck long, her body lithe and lean, long strong legs, beautifully shaped, _she has her father's legs _she thought randomly. She smiled as Cordy raised up on her toes and completed a string of mat exercises, absolutely flawlessly.

The women next to her had silenced their critical gossiping, and were watching Cordy, their faces reflecting her beauty and their jealousy. There was no denying it, Cordy Booth was an amazing gymnast, one that could easily compete at the highest level for her age. In fact she had been been accepted to compete in the next Olympic Games in three years. It would make her one of the youngest competitors ever as she would be barely 14. But. Angel and Temperance had matter of factly declined her nomination. They knew that she could, and would, love it. _If_ she knew. They had demanded that her coach never discuss it with her. She was going to have enough on her plate, without hating them for denying her the chance to compete in the Olympics. On the mat, or on the beam, Cordy felt free. Alive. But where she really excelled was the uneven bars.

Temperance smiled as the women next to her went back to their bitching. They never tried to hide their annoyance at Cordy's abilities, and would openly try to point out something that they considered wrong with her style. It aggravated them that the coach spent a good deal of their sessions with Cordy, and not with their daughters. Cordy was well aware of their dislike for her, but she didn't care. Cordy was not one that needed other people's approval. She inherited that trait from her mother.

She walked over to Temperance and took the drink bottle from her and downed half the water without breathing. She gasped, and wiped her mouth on her arm. "So have the witches been gagging again?" she asked her mother, nodding in the direction of the other mothers who were now gushing over their daughters and schmoozing the coach in the hope that he will give their daughters more attention. "Shhh. Do you have to speak so loudly Cordy?" Temperance said, but the smile on her face agreed with her.

"You looked wonderful out there today honey" she added, handing her daughter a sweatshirt. Cordy wiped her face on it and wrapped it around her waist. "I gave that to you to wear, not to use as a towel" Temperance said, trying to sound firm, but loving her daughters irreverence. There were things about Cordy that she adored. Her outspokenness, her intelligence, her vocabulary, all things that she felt that she had inherited from her. From her father she had inherited athleticism, bravery, strength of character and will, and a wicked sense of humour. And by her father, she meant Angel, for he had been Cordy's father from the day she first screamed her arrival to the world.

Armand, Cordy's coach, noticing Temperance's imminent departure, disengaged himself from the "witches" and made a beeline for her. Cordy rolled her eyes and commented out the corner of her mouth "Look out, lover boy is coming over to ask you out to _deener _ again. Boy, Dad would flatten him if he knew he kept hitting on you, Mom." Temperance frowned at Cordy and hissed "Don't be ridiculous. He's just being friendly. And you know there is no one else for me but your father. And you're too young to be talking about. Armand! So nice to see you again."

_OOOF!_ The air was forced out of her lungs as Armand wrapped her up in a bear hug and squeezed her just a little too tightly. "Temperrrrance. It is so good to see you. You arrrre looking divine, as always" Armand purred in her ear, rolling his tongue, his breath hot on her skin. She wriggled and broke his hold on her and stepped back a large step. "Armand. Nice to see you. Again. You know, I just saw you four days ago. You don't need to greet me as though you haven't seen me in an age." She said, just as she said every time he hugged her. The witches reaction to Armand's overly personal greeting, did not go unnoticed from the corner of her eye. She shrugged it off and smiled stiffly at Armand.

"You wanted to see me about something?" she asked, glaring over at Cordy who was making kissy faces behind Armand's back. "Yes. I wanted to ask you once more. Please. _Please_ will you reconsider Corrrrdy for the Olympics" Temperance smiled at the way Armand rolled his r's when he said her and Cordy's names. She looked back at Armand the smile still on her face. "Thank you, but no. Joe and I won't be reconsidering. She does gymnastics because she loves it. We feel that pushing her into something so very competitive, at such a young age, would more than likely crush that love."

Armand opened his mouth to speak, but Temperance raised her hand to stop him. "No. Armand. I said no. My _husband_ said no. And that's our decision." She hesitated, then felt a little sorry for the man in front of her. Placing one hand on his arm, "We appreciate everything you do for Cordy. We do Armand. Please understand. We have four children. We cannot focus solely on one. It's just not the way our family is. Can you understand that?" her voice had softened. Armand looked down at the elegant, long fingered hand laying across his arm and covered it with his own. _her skin is like satin_ he thought.

Cordy, who was watching everything caught her mother's eye and stuck her fingers in her mouth, and pretended to gag. Temperance's mouth twitched, she mustn't laugh. She jerked her hand out from under Armand's warm, rather sweaty one and surreptitiously wiped it on her jeans. "OK. Well that's been a good chat. Come on Cordy, I promised Dad I'd pick up some icecream on the way home." She backed away from Armand and picked up her laptop and handbag. Cordy walked past Armand and punched him in the arm "Later _Almond_" she said, grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Armand, Cordy. Its pronounced Arrrrrmand" he called out to her back. Cordy glanced up at her mother "I prefer Almond. He's a bit nutty about you" she laughed at her own joke. Temperance tried to push down her grin, determined not to let Cordy be disrespectful, but failing. "Cordy. That's rude" _but true my funny girl _she thought to herself.

The two of them walked out, passing the "witches" who were still trying to convince each other that their daughters were the stars of the class. They ignored Temperance and Cordy, and that suited them just fine. Temperance had nothing at all in common with these ridiculous, shallow, vacuous women.

Cordy casually tossed her bag over by the coat rack as they came in the back door. "Take it to your room young lady" Temperance called out to her. Angel looked up from the paper he was reading at the table. "Good session?" he asked, adjusting the new reading glasses on the end of his nose. Temperance smiled. He looked quite adorable in them, but he hated wearing them. She liked to remind him that at his age, 270 something, he was lucky to have lasted so long not needing them. It always made him laugh. "It was OK." she replied. "So how were the witches?" he asked.

Temperance sat down and sighed. "Really? Now you are calling them that?" Angel smiled a closed mouth smile, the corners of his mouth pulled up making his dimples deepen. She shook her head "Really Angel, must you encourage her? She's ten years old, but acts like she's twenty!" Angel shrugged and mumbled "She's her mother's daughter". Temperance frowned "You realise I heard that, right? You want a drink or anything?" she stood up and wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She leaned on the door looking into the depths of it examining its contents. "You made dinner!" she exclaimed finding a large bowl of salad and a platter of cold grilled chicken. Angel grinned and continued reading the paper "I'm just that good I guess" he quipped. She came over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "Yes you are."

Temperance took a seat and pulled a section of the paper out to read. "So how was Arrrrrmand?" he murmured, peeking at her over the top of his glasses. Temperance's head snapped up _damn you Cordy_ "I don't know what you mean? He's fine. And why are you talking like that?" she said quickly. Angel smirked. "I heard you like his accent." and winked at her. Temperance blushed "Oh don't be silly. You know you are the only man that can charm me. She reached across the table and he grabbed her hand and lifted her palm to his lips. He didn't need to respond. He knew that she was telling the truth. He just liked to tease her about Armand. He was well aware of the gymnastic coach's crush on his wife.

The first time Angel took Cordy to her class instead of Temperance, Armand had nearly had heart failure. He had grilled Angel for half of the class about her, wanting to know if she was OK, or if she needed anything. He was quite secure about his wife's love for him. Besides, Armand was a short, emotional, prissy man. Not at all her type.

Cordy was in the shower. She lifted her arms up to wash her hair and was aware of a sharp pull behind her shoulder. She winced, and stretched her arm out, rotating her shoulder under the hot water. She shrugged and continued. It was probably nothing. Cordy was just like her father. She could shrug off pain and just get on with things. _If it's still sore in a few days I'll tell dad_ she thought. Her mom would just drag her to the doctors, whereas her dad would examine her, do a few exercises with her and work out what was wrong. If it was bad, he would know and then she'd agree to the doctors, with him.

The family was sitting around the table, eating dinner. Cordy reached out for a slice of bread and pulled her arm back suddenly. Kathy burst into tears. "Kathy, baby. What's wrong?" Angel asked her, his voice concerned. He lifted her chin and looked at her. Her tiny face was crumpled and tears were trickling down her cheek. She stared into her father's eyes and he could hear her voice in his head "No baby" he shook his head. "With your voice. Tell me with your voice, remember?" Kathy's face crumpled again. "My arm is hurting Daddy" she blubbered. Angel looked at his tiny daughter, her face wet with tears, one hand holding her upper arm. He gently poked and prodded and lifted her arm. Nothing seemed to worry her. But she continued to cry.

Angel looked across the table at Temperance and shrugged, shaking his head to indicate he didn't know what was wrong. "Not Sissy's arm Daddy" Max said quietly. Cordy suddenly spoke up. "It's my shoulder. I hurt it today at gym. I didn't think it was too bad, but in the shower it was hurting." Angel looked from Kathy to Temperance, over to Cordy and back to his little daughter. He lifted her from her seat and propped her on his knee, holding her against his chest, staring at Temperance over her head. _empath_ Temperance mouthed the word. Angel nodded.

Temperance lowered her head and stared at her salad, poking at it with a fork. _and so it begins. how on earth are we going to deal with this? _ "I think you should go to Angela's in the morning" "I think I should go to Angela's in the morning" they echoed each other. Kathy had stopped crying and was wiping her eyes on Angels shirt front. He sat her up and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped her face. She lifted her face and pursed her lips for a kiss. Angel leant down and pecked her on the lips and then sat her back on her chair "All better daddy!" she announced and promptly began eating her dinner.

"That's one of those weird things she can do, isn't it?" Cordy asked. Angel glanced at Temperance before answering. "Err. Yes. It is. Kathy is an Empath." he began. "Basically it means she can feel other peoples pain or emotions. But not all the time. Only sometimes." Temperance finished. Cordy looked at Kathy and shrugged "Well that will suck for her" Angel smirked. Sometimes his daughter made him laugh. She may only be ten, but she had the mind of a much older person.

Seeley reached over and patted Kathy's hand "You OK Sissy?" he asked. Kathy's face creased into a large wide smile, her tiny baby teeth encrusted with food. "Ughhh, gross!" Cordy exclaimed, making everyone at the table burst out laughing. Temperance looked at Angel who was still laughing. "Never a dull moment, huh." she said. Angel nodded "Nope." He chewed a mouthful of food, then grinned, making the children all fall about laughing again. Temperance, shook her head and smiled into her plate, before forking a mouthful of salad in and chewing it and then looking up with a large toothy green grin. That finished it. They were all screaming with laughter, food going everywhere. And they wouldn't have it any other way.

They needed these times. These purely happy moments to look back on when things got rough. Because they both knew that things _were _ going to get rough. They didn't know when, or how or when, but they knew it would. And when it did, they just might need these moments to remember when they were a normal, happy family.


	3. Chapter 3

_Rince amhail is dá mbeadh aon duine ag breathnú, _

_Can amhail is dá mbeadh aon duine ag éisteacht, _

_Agus beo gach lá amhail is dá mba é do seo caite._

Angel walked around the table, kissing each of his children on the top of the head as he spoke the ancient Irish words. He then smiled and repeated the English version for them.

_Dance as if no one were watching, _

_Sing as if no one were listening, _

_And live every day as if it were your last. _

Candles flickered on the double birthday cake sitting in the middle of the table. Voices chimed together, singing the age old song, wishing Max and Kathy a happy birthday.

"I can't believe they are ten!" Temperance whispered into Angels ear. He turned and stared into her eyes. Time had been kind to her. Her eyes sparkled in the candlelight. Her skin had a luminescence that made him stare. He reached up and curled a lock of her hair around his finger. She smiled at him, reaching up and stroking his cheek. They were still so in love. All the years that had passed. The good times and the bad. The things they had endured, fought for, defeated and enjoyed.

Angel captured her hand and held the palm to his lips. She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the first time he had done this. Her lips curled up at the corners. He was watching her face as he kissed her palm. He dropped her hand and leaned in and kissed that mouth. Her lips parted slightly and their kiss deepened.

"Can you two please just get a room?"

They turned together and stared at their eldest daughter, Cordy. She was grinning at them, a fork in her hand, laden with a large chunk of the birthday cake that she had pulled from the corner. "Cordy! You couldn't wait until they cut the cake?" Cordy shrugged and shoved the cake into her mouth. "Nope. You took too long with all your canoodling" she mumbled with a full mouth. Angel smirked and tried to cover his mouth. Oh how he loved this irreverent girl of his. She was tall and athletic, beautiful, with a smart mouth, and brilliant mind. She was almost seventeen years old.

He shook his head. Seventeen! Where have those years gone! He glanced over at Seeley. He was a carbon copy of himself, except for those eyes. They were the sharpest of blues. Just like his mothers. He was tall and slim, with shoulders that were starting to widen, giving him that V shape that Angel used to have when he was a much younger man. Seeley was a gentle soul. Quiet and thoughtful, kind and caring, and acutely psychic. He had "the sight" as Angels mother used to say. Both she and his sister Kathy had it as well. Kathy used to talk to the angels. Spirits of the deceased. Souls that still roamed the earth, or visited for whatever reason.

Angel felt a shiver run up his spine. Seeley and his daughter Kathy were staring at each other. Their identical blue eyes locked. Neither was speaking, but Angel knew they were completely in tune with each other. He watched Seeley's face as his mouth started to twitch at the corner. A familiar smirk kinked his lips, pulling them up on one side. Kathy and Seeley both started laughing at the same time. "God, you two. Can't you just talk like normal people!" Cordy said, her mouth once again full of cake. "Couldn't you just give me normal, dumb brothers and sisters?" she directed her question at her parents who were grinning at each other still.

"Perhaps everyone can just take a minute and let your father make a toast to Max and Kathy, hmm?" Temperance said as she pulled the cake across the table out of the reach of Cordy's fork, which for the third time was laden with creamy cake. Angel stood up and cleared his throat "Happy Birthday Max and Kathy. Ten years old today! We all wish you many happy returns" Max joined in echoing Angels words "And we hope you have had a wonderful day!" Kathy, Seeley and Cordy burst out laughing. Max smiled at his father and said "Thanks Dad. I know I did, and I'm pretty sure Kathy did too, didn't you sis?" he turned and wrapped an arm around his sisters shoulders.

Kathy smiled sweetly and turned and kissed her twin brother on the cheek, then looked around the table and nodded. Kathy rarely spoke. She let Max or Seeley speak for her most of the time. Both the boys were able to receive her thoughts. Angel could too, but didn't talk about it with Temperance because it bothered her that she couldn't, or at least that's what she told them. Angel suspected that she could, but it spooked her. Cordy always told them off, but it didn't bother her at all really. In fact, nothing much bothered Cordy. She went about her life very matter of factly. She was like her mother in that way, but her personality was all Angel. She had his irreverent sense of humour, and cheeky personality. Although, she often took it too far.

Cordy was also extremely intelligent, something that Temperance liked to point out to Angel. She excelled at school in science, maths and sports. Her room was full of all sorts of awards. Trophies for athletics, gymnastics and a wall full of certificates of excellence for her studies. She was about to start her last year of school. Her mother wanted her to attend college, but she wasn't interested. She wanted to get out and travel for a few years before she was needed.

Cordy knew all about what was coming. Angel had taken her and Seeley to see Mrs Anderson one day before their sixteenth birthday, without Temperance knowing. He had decided that they needed to know what was going on. They were getting to a stage in life where they might want to go away to school, or travel, or work. They needed to have some idea about what was ahead of them. Angel also felt that they had the right to choose if they wanted to join the fight or not. If they had said no, Angel would have defended their right to their freedom until the ends of the earth. He had told Angela that nothing could make his children fight if they didn't want to. That she would have to go through him first. She had nodded and smiled sadly. She had never had children of her own, but imagined that she would have felt exactly the same way.

Both Seeley and Cordy had sat and listened to Angela. She had been very clear about what lay ahead of them. She told them about their father. About who he had been, how he had become who he now was. Angel was surprised at how well the twins had taken the revelations. He had expected tears, or denial, particularly from Cordy, but no. Seeley was quiet and thoughtful. He had asked some very practical questions. He had made an interesting comparison to Max, but other than that, he seemed quite calm about it all. Cordy was angry at first. Not about who Angel was, but the fact that he himself had not told them. He had cringed beneath her glare. It was the same glare that Temperance had turned on him many times over the years. She was right of course. Cordy was not a young child. She was a lot more mature than her peers. She lived a different life than they did. But she had never been able to talk about it. So she learned to lie. Effectively.

When Kathy and Max were younger, she had avoided bringing her friends home because she was embarrassed about her younger siblings. Seeley and she used to tell people that their younger brother and sister were mentally retarded and needed to be kept quiet. Something that Angel and Temperance had only found out about when the twins were around five, and they had asked them why they never asked their friends over to play. Seeley and Cordy always went to other children's homes, but nobody ever came to their house. They had sat them down and had a serious talk with them. It was a horrible thing to tell people. It made Temperance angry, but Angel just felt sad. The fact that his children felt they had to lie. They were different, yes. But to tell people they were retarded was just terrible.

Seeley had pleaded innocence, blaming the story fabrication on Cordy. Both Angel and Temperance knew that this was probably true, but he had gone along with it, which made him guilty. They had been grounded for a month, and Angel and Temperance insisted that they start asking their friends over to play. They in turn promised to keep Max and Kathy, who were quite young still, away from them and their friends. They had also been ordered to tell their friends that there was nothing actually wrong with their younger brother and sister at all. That they had made it up.

That part was so embarrassing for Cordy, she tried feigning illness to avoid going to school. Seeley took it on the chin and owned up to his friends that he was just making it up because he didn't want his younger siblings interfering in their games. Of course, children at that age just tend to accept what they are told and get on with things. Which is exactly what happened. Soon Angel and Temperance found their house full of children after school and on weekends.

Angel loved it. Temperance was overwhelmed at first. But she soon learned to speak only when directly addressed, and to not hang around them when their friends were over. She would bake cupcakes and cookies and make mini burgers and hotdogs. Angel would make his now famous "bloody punch". Which was a concoction of juices, red grapes (which were eyeballs) and red licorice straps (which were intestines), lemonade and red food colouring. It proved very popular amongst the boys especially and was requested regularly. Temperance was concerned about the level of sugar and food colouring being consumed, but Angel shooed her away while brewing his concoction. There were probably hoards of children who were bouncing off ceilings at night after visiting their house, but Angel just smiled and added a few more drops of food colouring to make it just the right shade of _blood_.

While Cordy and Seeley were enjoying school and their newly found social life, Max and Kathy were being gently guided as to how to manage their gifts. It was very difficult asking a five year old not to talk about things that they just knew in their minds. Kathy, had to be gently reminded to speak her thoughts, not to project them. And Max. Well Max was a little more complicated. He had several issues that were, shall we say, anti-social.

He was still quite attracted by the smell and sight of blood. School yard injuries attracted him like a moth to a flame. If there was someone hurt and bleeding, Max would always know exactly where they were, even if he was on the other side of the school yard. He would run as fast as he could (which was a lot faster than the average child) so he could see the injury. He would sniff the air, inhaling the scent of the blood. He also had extremely good eyesight. He would point things out that nobody else could see, and then get quite indignant when they did not believe that he could see the cat climbing along the tree branch to attack the bird in the nest. In the next block.

He also had to learn not to call out the answers to questions that the teacher was about to ask. He was so eager sometimes, he would call out before the teacher had finished reading the question in her notes. Max was a challenge. Excitable, highly intelligent, intuitive, psychic and of course, part vampire.

Kathy was the opposite. She had to be taught how to speak to people. She was quite shy and timid. She would often whisper what she wanted to say to Max, who would speak for her. The school had pointed this out to Temperance and Angel and suggested that the twins be separated and put into different classes. Temperance was against this at first, but Angel had convinced her that as long as Max was with her, she would continue to use him as her voice. So they agreed to trial it for a term. It actually turned out to be a good thing. Kathy was slowly started to talk more, and the teachers were surprised at how intelligent she was.

They had often wondered how did one reign in all these talents in a five year old child? But with Angela Andersons help, they had started to help them understand that they were different to other people. They didn't understand why people got frightened. It took time. But Angel and Angela started to see that they were slowly beginning to think before they did something that was quite natural for them, but may scare someone else.

And now they were ten years old. Both smart as whips and popular with their peers and with the teachers. Max had a well developed sense of humour like Cordy and Angel. He was a great lover of practical jokes and would often plan highly detailed pranks to play. Some got him into trouble, but most were very amusing. Kathy was still quiet, but very bright and artistic. Her art teacher was so impressed he had entered some of her pieces in a national art competition, where her pieces were put up against college art majors and some semi-professional artists. She fared very well and had even sold some of her paintings for quite a large sum of money. Temperance had made sure that this was invested into an account for her future, whatever that may hold. Kathy also had a beautiful singing voice and played both the piano and violin.

Angel would sit and close his eyes and remember another little girl with a voice like an angel singing softly. He and Kathy would lie together in the back garden watching the clouds roll by and she would sing the old celtic songs that he had taught her. Their voices would float across the garden through the kitchen window. Temperance would smile, as she listened to one sweet perfectly pitched voice and one, deep, offkey one. Yet they blended perfectly, to her ears.

Angel reached out under the table and found Temperance's hand. He wrapped his around it, entwining his fingers with hers and squeezing gently. She returned the squeeze and lay her head against his shoulder, watching her children's faces in the flickering candle light. Ten years. Her younger children had come so far over the last few years. Their lives had all changed so much.

Angel felt her sigh heavily and lay his head onto hers. Her hand squeezed his tighter. They didn't need to speak. He knew exactly what she was thinking.

_How much longer will we be happy like this?_


	4. Chapter 4

"No. Not like that. You have to grab lower on the leg. Balance yourself and flip." Angel was watching Cordy and Seeley practice. He was teaching them to fight. Temperance was not exactly aware of how far their training had progressed. She still thought they were doing tai chi with their father. Angel hated that he was keeping this from her. But she struggled with her children learning to physically hurt someone. Angel had tried to explain that it was not so much about them using physical violence against someone else, rather protecting themselves from physical harm. She knew in her head it was necessary, but in her heart. Well, she just struggled with it. They were only sixteen. Angel reminded her that it could be in as little as six years that they may be called. And the conversation had stalled at that point.

So, Angel, Cordy and Seeley would go off on Saturday mornings to a loft that Angela had given them the keys to. Mrs Anderson had revealed a lot more about herself over the last few years. Not only had Angel found out that she had worked for Wolfram & Hart for many years. She had also been squirreling away documents and scrolls connected to the Shanshu prophecy and other ancient prophecies. Angela also, it was revealed, was quite financially flush. She had purchased the loft they were using for training. It was fitted out with punching bags, gymnastic equipment, mats, and, much to Angels surprise, a stash of weaponry that could only have come from the archives of Wolfram & Harts storage basement. It was hidden away behind one of those secret walls that Angela was so fond of.

He had seen, and used many of them in his past. But there were also some that he had never seen before. She never told him how she came to be in possession of them, and he didn't ask. It really didn't matter. What mattered was deciding when, and if, his children were going to need to be schooled in the use of them.

It hurt Angels heart to think that his children would possibly one day become warriors. It didn't seem right in this day and age that four seemingly normal children, would actually have the possible salvation of humanity thrust upon their shoulders. But of course, nothing in Angels world ever ended up normal. He had of course experienced moments of normality. Fleeting pockets of time that made him realise how precious life truly is.

There was however a real shadow hanging over them now. And he knew that the darkness would come. He and Angela had talked long into the night many times. They had become firm friends, confidantes. He trusted Angela almost as much as he trusted Temperance. These were the only two people in the world whom he could rely upon unconditionally. She knew him. She believed in him. And she had been brutally honest with him.

"Seeley, you need to counter balance when she goes on the offensive. Do you understand?" He stood up and walked over to his children. Seeley was almost as tall as him now. He moved into position, and demonstrated how Seeley needed to push against Cordy while she was attacking. He nodded and smiled at his father. Angel's heart almost burst through his chest.

A voice broke through their practice. "Well, well. Isn't this the lovely family scene. Daddy dearest teaching the fledglings how to play at being soldiers, hmmm?" The hair on the back of Angels neck prickled. He straightened up and stood still. "Come on Angel. Take a guess, a wild stab." Angel cricked his neck from side to side and slowly turned, speaking as he turned "Rutherford Sirk. Well, well, well. What moss encrusted rock did you crawl out from under. Last time I saw you, you had cosied up with Lilah and Lindsay and forced Spike and I to play out that pointless charade over the Cup Of Perpetual Torment. After that, you just disappeared."

Rutherford stood, arms folded across his chest, smiling slyly. "Dad, who's that?" Cordy asked. Angel turned and snapped "You two, just go sit over against the wall, and do not move." Seeley flinched at his father's harsh tone, then stared at the stranger in the doorway. "Do what your father says little man" Rutherford said. "Do NOT speak to my children Sirk. You have something to say. You speak only to me" Angel retorted strongly taking several steps across the room towards him.

The man matched Angels steps and stopped about four feet away from him. "Word is that you and your spawn are planning a little something that involves my employers. I have been sent to check out our competition. I was told there were four." he said nodding towards Cordy and Seeley who were frowning identically at the man. Angel stepped sideways, blocking his view of the teenagers. "What are you doing here Sirk. Just get to the point of this irritating intrusion." Sirk smiled and turned his back and walked several steps away from Angel. "Tick tock Angel." He glanced back over his shoulder and smiled straight at him. "Time's up" and with that he walked out the door and disappeared.

Angel ran across the room and followed him out the door. "What does that mean?" he yelled. Sirk was nowhere to be seen. Angel checked the stairwell, the lift was still on their floor. _how the hell?_ He ran back into the room "Pack your stuff up. We need to get home. Right now!" He began gathering up their training gear and shoving it into cupboards. He picked up three daggers and walked towards the secret wall _thank God that had been closed. _Then thought better of it and slipped them into his training bag.

They got into the car and Angel drove them home. Not a word was spoken. Seeley was staring at the back of his father's head the whole way home. He was getting fractured images, flashes of things that made no sense to him. He was going to talk to Cordy when they got home. Something big was going down. He just wished his father would think about just one thing, rather than a conglomeration of things that muddled together.

"Seeley, stop trying to read my mind. I want you to recite something. A poem, sing a song, anything. Just stay out of my head!" Angel snapped. He glanced over his shoulder "I'm sorry, I just can't have you poking around in my brain right now." he turned back to the road and never said another word. Seeley and Cordy exchanged a look and they started talking about the school excursion they were going on at the end of the week. Angel let out a long breath. He had been concentrating so hard to keep as many thoughts in his head at the same time to stop his son working out what was really going on.

He pulled into the driveway and got out the car. He handed his keys to Cordy "Just go inside and do your homework." Cordy took the keys "Dad, its Saturday. We don't have homework." Angel glared at her, "Well just go and do something. I have to go see Mrs Anderson. Let your mother know that's where I am." He turned and stalked down the sidewalk towards the old ladies home.

_Tick Tock Angel. Time's up._


	5. Chapter 5

"Angel! No! You can't! Please" she begged. "What about me. Our children!" Angels face contorted as she begged. "I have to. Don't you understand? It's happening. Soon. Now. The children are too young. It's all gone wrong. I don't have a choice!" he dropped to his knees and pulled her against him, burying his face into her stomach. She felt him shuddering. She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled him into her, cradling his head as he cried. Her tears dropping onto his head.

Angela Anderson stood to the side awkwardly. She shuffled her feet and tried to look out of the window. She felt like the elephant in the room. Temperance's head snapped around and she glared at her. "You promise me that this won't go wrong. Promise me!" she demanded. Angela stepped towards her and lay a hand upon her shoulder. "I promise that I will do my best to keep all that is good and kind and yours, within him." She said meaning every word, but just hoping that she could keep her vow. Angel stood up, and hugged Temperance to him, whispering into her ear "I love you and the children more than my own life. That's why I have to do this Temperance. Please understand and forgive me. Please" he begged softly.

She nodded, still held within his embrace. Her face pressed into his chest. "I know. I'm just scared of losing you. I don't think I can go on alone if I lose you Angel. I mean it. Don't you dare let me down." She pushed herself away and stared into his face "don't you dare" she repeated. Her eyes were betraying her tone. She was trying to be fierce, but it wasn't fooling Angel. He could see the fear in her. He bent and kissed her lips firmly, deeply. Savouring the taste of her.

Finally he released her and stepped away. "Tell the children I love them. And that I'll be back soon" he nodded at her "I will be back Temperance. I will. I promise you." He turned and looked at Angela "Let's go now. The children will be home from school soon, and I don't want them to see me. I don't think I could go through with leaving with you if they were here. We have to go now." He turned and walked towards the door, opening it and glancing back at Temperance who was standing with her hands clasped in front of her chest, tears falling freely. "I love you Angel" she whispered. He swallowed and turned from her and walked out the door. Angela stopped and turned back "I promise you I will do everything in my power to return him to you as close to the man you love as I can Temperance." She said and then followed Angel out the door.

Temperance stood for a moment and then collapsed to the floor sobbing. Deep down she understood why he had agreed to this. But her heart was breaking. She was scared. Scared that she would never see him again. That something would go wrong. That she would be left alone. And even more afraid for her children, for their very safety relied upon this plan working. She sat on the floor, her hands pressed against the tiles, her head hanging low, breathing deeply. Willing herself to calm down and stop crying. Eventually she stood up. She looked at the clock. The children would be walking in the door any minute. She had to appear normal when they got home.

She and Angel hadn't had a chance to talk about what she was going to tell them. _Daddy had to go away with Mrs Anderson for a while. He couldn't stay to say goodbye. It had been an emergency situation._ She had a bad taste in her mouth. She had never openly lied to her children. She also knew that Seeley would more than likely see straight through the lie. But she would try. After all, he _was_ going to Angela's. If she needed to she would talk privately to Seeley and Cordy. But she would cross that bridge when she came to it. She smoothed her hair and went to the kitchen sink and washed her face. She stared out the window, willing him to walk across the garden towards the house.

She heard their chatter as they came up the side path. They came barrelling through the back door, dropping school bags and jackets and heading to cupboards and the fridge looking for after school snacks and drinks. Suddenly Kathy burst into tears. Seeley and Max both stared straight at Temperance and Cordy simply continued looking in the fridge. Temperance turned and ran from the kitchen, unable to face them. _they know. I'm sure they know _she thought as the closed the bedroom door behind her. She sat on the end of the bed and buried her face in her hands.

She was still sitting on the bed, face in hands, not hearing the door open. She started when a small hand began patting her shoulder. She lifted her face and turned and looked into the dark eyes of her youngest son Max. _he looks so much like Angel _ She thought. "It will be OK Mommy. Daddy is going to be OK too." his hand still patting her back. She pulled him onto her lap and buried her face in his wavy brown hair. His arms wrapping around his mother, he made a soft clucking sound. Temperance found herself strangely comforted by that odd little noise. Another little body pushed against her, wrapping arms around her neck and kissing her cheek softly. Kathy. She wrapped one arm around her daughter and hugged her children tightly.

_Angel would be fine. _

_He had to be._


	6. Chapter 6

They had set a plan in motion. There was no going back. She had called in Wo Pang. A mystic, well acquainted with Angel. For it had been he who had once removed Angels soul, bringing forth Angelus. This time however, something very different was going to be attempted. Different.

_And dangerous_.

The unknown lay before Angel. But it was also very familiar. An existence he had struggled with. Borne witness to. And vowed never to return to. He had been given a life. A gift. A reward. And he was about to do the unthinkable.

He was about to give it back.

_The thought made him feel sick. _

Hopefully it would be temporary. There were no guarantees. He knew that this may well turn out to be a complete disaster. Not only for him, but for the people closest to him.

Down in the depths of the second concealed basement below Angela's house was a room. It was solid lead, six inches thick. Air was recycled and there was a heating system installed, otherwise it would have been freezing. Wo Pang had pointed out that if things went the way they hoped, the temperature would not matter to _him._ Angela had reminded him that she was over 100 years old. The temperature mattered to _her._ The door had several different locking mechanisms. Two were mystical, and only Angela had the ability to open them. They were only going to be used if the unthinkable happened. If anything happened to her, anything within that room would remain there for eternity. She hoped this wouldn't be the case now.

Angel nodded at Wo Pang who simply bowed. He paced around the room, looking at the walls. Blank, except for two chains that hung against one wall, threaded through a pulley system embedded into the lead and hooked up to a winding mechanism on the side wall. They were cast from silver, thick and strong looking, with large cuffs attached to the end. A second set of cuffs were down near ground level, attached to the wall by more short silver chains. He picked one up and inspected it. It didn't look that dangerous. But he knew that at some point, it would make him weak as a kitten. He turned the cuff over in his hands. _I'd forgotten that _he thought to himself.

He ran his hand across the top of the steel bench in the middle of the room. It too had silver cuffs attached to chains welded to the bench, the ends embedded in the concrete floor. His mind was reeling. A distant memory tugging at him of another time.

Angela came to the doorway and stood quietly watching the man in front of her. She was extremely fond of Angel. Dare she say it. She loved him like a son. The son she never had. And she was going to help dismantle this man. She rubbed at her face with her hands. _What if I'm wrong. What if this doesn't work and he remains. _she stopped, unwilling to think it. He turned and smiled at her. It was a sad smile. _he's frightened_ she nodded at him.

"It's time. We can't afford to wait. I don't know exactly how long it will take. Or how long before you are able to be released. So the quicker we begin" she said. He walked towards her "the quicker I'll be able to go back to Temperance" he finished her sentence with his own words. She forced a smile and nodded "exactly" she said softly, hoping that this wasn't a lie.

Wo Pang walked into the room carrying a large black leather bag. He placed it down on the floor and looked at Angel, and motioned to the bench. Angel swallowed and began undressing. He removed his shirt, jeans, shoes and socks and just left on his boxers. He sat on the edge of the bench. It was cold. He shivered. But it wasn't the cold of the steel. It was fear.

He forced himself to lay down on the cold steel bench. Angela and Wo Pang stood either side of him and attached the cuffs to his wrists and ankles, ensuring they were locked into place. The metal felt cold and heavy, weighing his hands and feet down. He felt the urge to vomit. "I'm going to be sick" he managed before he turned to the side and the contents of his stomach emptied onto the floor. He looked up at Angela "sorry" he murmered. She smiled and shook her head. "It matters not. I expect there is going to be a lot messier things happening shortly Angel. I'll clean it up later."

She stroked his hair and used her handkerchief to wipe his mouth. Then she had the urge to do something that took both her and Angel by surprise. She bent low and whispered into his ear. "I love you Angel. You and your family are like my own. I will do everything in my power to protect both you and them." and she kissed his cheek. A long soft motherly kiss. Angel closed his eyes and a single tear trickled out from beneath his lashes. He kept his eyes closed. He could not look her in the face again.

Angela stood up and nodded at Wo Pang.

He lifted a large glass container out of the bag and handed it to Angela. Then he produced a vial of a strange swirling purple mist. He grabbed Angels chin and pulled his mouth open and without a word, upended the contents into Angels mouth and then forced his mouth shut. Holding his chin so he could not open his mouth and spit out the contents. Angels eyes flew open, they were full of panic. They rolled into the back of his head and his body began heaving up and down. He tried pulling his head from side to side to release it from Wo Pang's grip, but he was unable to. Wo Pang leaned into him, forcing him to swallow the liquid that was burning into the lining of his mouth, foaming at its corners. His throat began to burn, his oesophagus, his stomach. _He could feel it._

Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw Angelus's face laughing. A hood was pulled over his head and secured and then

_nothing_


	7. Chapter 7

Temperance lay curled up on her bed. Cordy and Seeley had been looking after their siblings for the last week. They had taken on looking after their mother as well. She had not moved for the last 8 days. She barely ate. Didn't speak. Just lay there. Sometimes crying. Sometimes sleeping. But mostly just staring at the photo on the bedside cabinet.

It was of her and their Dad. Taken on the day they got married. She was staring up at him, smiling. He was looking up into the sky laughing. They were so happy.

Cordy fought back the urge to hurl that photograph at the wall. She was angry at her mother. But mostly she was angry at her father. _Where the hell was he?_ She had gone down to Mrs Anderson's and banged on the doors. Rattled the screens on the windows. Rang the doorbell. But nobody answered. She worked her way around the house, peering into windows, trying to catch a glimpse of someone, something. But there was no sign of life. She left notes under the door, just in case someone came back. But nobody called her.

Seeley wasn't saying anything. He would lay on the bed behind his mother and gently rub her back. He would heat up canned soup and try to coax her to eat. He washed her face and hands with a wet cloth and brushed her hair for her. The whole time, Temperance just lay there, allowing her young son to care for her. Kathy and Max would lie on the bed at her feet and talk to her. Max would stare at her for hours, not moving. Kathy, mostly cried.

Finally Cordy had had enough. She barged into the room on the ninth day and turned on the light and opened up the curtains. She walked over and slapped Temperance across the face. "Enough. You hear me? ENOUGH!" she screamed in her mother's face. "We are your children. It's your job to look after us. Not the other way around. There is practically nothing left in the fridge and the cupboards are almost bare. We have no bread, no eggs, no cereal. Kathy and Max are ten, Mom. TEN!"

She glared at her mother. She raised her hand to slap her again, when Temperance blinked and opened her mouth. She rolled onto her back and covered her eyes with her arm. Cordy was going to punch her, but Seeley came up behind her and grabbed her arm. "Don't. Cordy. She's our mother. Please don't." he begged. She pulled her arm from his grasp and instead of hitting her mother, she grabbed Temperance's arm and pulled it from her face. "Did you hear me. You know, Dad would be completely disgusted with you right now. You pathetic excuse for a parent." She let go of her mother's arm and turned to walk out of the room.

"you're right of course" her mother's voice, weak but stable, behind her. Cordy turned and stared at her. "I know. I'm the adult in the room" she said harshly. Temperance sat up and stared at her daughter. She was the image of Angel right now. Tall, strong featured, determined. Her eyes flashed just as his did when he was angry. "No. I'm the adult in the room, but you're the one acting like one. Cordy, I'm sorry. I don't have any excuse for my behaviour. I don't even know how I let myself fall into this" she waved her hands vaguely around her.

Cordy let out a big sigh and tilted her head and stared at her mother. She knew how. Her mom and dad had a connection that she never saw with her friends parents. Mostly other people just lived in the same house, spoke briefly at mealtimes and slept on opposite sides of the bed. Her parents adored each other intensely. They touched all the time. Their eyes locked when they spoke to each other. They made love a lot. It was impossible not to hear it. But most of all they told each other how much they loved each other every single day. Without dad, her mom just wasn't a whole person. Part of her was missing. It would be exactly the same for him. Cordy decided that she never wanted to be in love like this. It was too hard.

"I'm sorry Cordy." Temperance said again, swinging her legs off the bed. "I'm not going to do this anymore. Your father is going to be back soon. I just know it. And he can't come back and find me like this and you children looking after yourselves. I'm so ashamed right now." she stared at her feet. Cordy walked over and sat on the bed next to her and wrapped her arms around her mother's shoulders. "I know you miss him Mom. But we miss him too. You just forgot that for a bit. I know he'll be back." she gave her mom a quick squeeze and stood up. "Mom?" she asked. Temperance looked up at her daughter "Yes honey?" she said. "Can we go shopping? I know you won't believe it, but I really would like a big plate of vegetables for dinner"

Temperance stared at her for a moment, then feigned shock and burst out laughing. "Oh dear. Things really have fallen in a hole haven't they?" She shook her head and stood up. "Right. I'll have a quick shower and then you and I will go to the market. Let Seeley know I'll need him to stay home with the twins. And Cordy?" she took a step towards her daughter "Thankyou. I needed you to do this. I wish you'd done it sooner." Cordy shrugged, "Sure. It's not every day your mom thanks you for slapping her." She grinned and walked out the door yelling out to her brother, as per usual "Hey Seels! We're having vegetables for dinner!"

* * *

Angela Anderson stood staring through the small glass panel in the thick lead door. This had not gone exactly as she had thought. How was she going to tell Temperance. _How?_

A pair of yellow eyes flashed as they caught sight of her at the door. The howl was thick and pained as the occupant of the room strained against the chains binding him. Angela caught her breath and stifled a sob with her hand. She closed the panel over the glass panel and sat down at the table and let the tears come.

_what have I done?_


	8. Chapter 8

Temperance was staring at the wall, her eyes glazed. Angela was sitting on the sofa, staring at her hands which were wringing the life out of handkerchief.

"And he's been like that for the last 9 days?" Temperance asked quietly. Angela looked up "I'm sorry" she whispered.

"NINE DAYS?" Temperance whirled around and stepped towards the elderly woman. She stood over her, her fists balled "Nine. Days. And you tell me this now? What did you do to him. What? And you didn't think that I should know? Maybe. Maybe I could have helped. Maybe he would know who I was. Maybe" her tears choked off anything else she was trying to say. She slumped to the floor in front of Angela and buried her head in the old woman's lap.

Angela sat, shocked. Then she let her hands gently wrap around the younger woman's shoulders and hold her why she sobbed. _I must be strong now_ Angela thought to herself, pushing her own guilt and sorrow to the back of her mind _I have to fix this. I MUST!_

* * *

Angela stood at the door of the room that housed him. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door and cracked it and peered inside. He was hanging from the wrist cuffs that bound him to the wall. He was quiet right now. Weakened by the silver and hunger. Feeding him had proven to be quite difficult at the start. He had tried to lunge at her on several occasions trying to bite her when she had attempted to hand feed him. She had tried sliding blood bags across the floor towards him, but the chains were not long enough for his hands to reach the floor to pick them up.

She did succeed a few times by using a broom with the blood bag balanced on it and holding it close enough for his hand to grab the pouch. _until the last time when he had pulled the broom out of her hand and tried to throw it at her_ Success had finally come in the form of a pole with a short spike on the end. She stood half way between the door and him. Staring at this monster she had helped create. She bowed her head and closed her eyes. "Please help me. Please help me find him." she prayed to nobody in particular.

She did not notice the body slipping in the door behind her. She didn't hear them step silently past her. Her prayer was interrupted by a snarl. She opened her eyes and her breathe caught in her lungs.

"Max! No!" she cried. But Max continued to move slowly, silently towards him. He was murmuring something softly, and making an odd clucking sound. The creature was snarling, drooling. His fangs bared, yellow eyes staring at the small boy who dared to approach him. He let out a howl. Max stopped, his little heart was beating so hard he could feel it banging against his chest. He began quietly chanting something, so softly that Angela could not actually tell if he was making a sound or not. Even the beast quietened for a moment. His eyes never leaving the child that dared approach him.

Max was staring straight at him now. His large brown eyes locked with the beasts sickly yellow ones. His voice was barely audible. He stepped closer, the beast railing, heaving against the chains that bound him, wanting nothing more than to grab the child before him and tear his throat out. But Max never wavered again. He held out his hand, only inches from the monster. Angela suddenly snapped out of her trance. "Max. DON'T" she screamed as Max let his hand press against the cold flesh of the beast.

The room was filled with a howl that threatened to burst Angela's eardrums. She covered her ears and closed her eyes. No longer able to watch what was happening in front of her. _I've killed them both! _her only thought. The beast's head threw back, slamming into the lead wall. It's body rocking, straining against the chains that bound it. All the while, Max stood with his hands pressed against the cold dead flesh, clucking and chanting, his eyes closed.

The howl suddenly turned into a scream. A human scream of pain. Angela's eyes flew open and she stared at the scene in front of her.

Max had both arms wrapped around the waist of the man chained to the wall. _THE MAN!_

His head lifted and a pair of familiar dark brown eyes stared at her.

"Angela" he croaked.


	9. Chapter 9

Angela stood rooted to the spot. She couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. Max turned around and grinned at her. "It wasn't a monster at all! It was Daddy all the time!" he announced and turned back and grinned up at his father. Angel tried to smile, but only managed to grimace. He glanced up at Angela again "Angela? My arms hurt pretty bad." he croaked again.

Angela suddenly snapped into action. "Oh my God. Angel! It's really you!" First she had to release the pulley and lower him down. She ran over to him and fished into her pocket for one of the keys she would require to open the cuffs. She grabbed at one and then hesitated for a moment, she stared into his eyes. He looked into her eyes and nodded "It's OK. It's really me Angela. It's me. Please?" he whispered, his voice giving out due to his dry mouth and throat.

Angela blinked a few times and then nodded and unlocked one, then the other handcuff. Angel dropped to the floor, unable to stand. Max sat on the floor next to him, still holding onto him. Not willing to be separated from his father. Angela stumbled and kneeled down and unlocked the cuffs around Angels feet. She pulled the silver chains away from his body taking note of the burns around his ankles and wrists. He had no strength to even sit, so he simply rolled onto his back and lay on the cold concrete floor. Max lay down too, his little body pressed against that of his father. "You're cold Daddy" he said. Angel wrapped an arm around his son and weakly hugged him. "I know. I'm sorry" he whispered.

He looked over at Angela who was sitting on the ground staring at him. "water" he managed to croak. Angela was shocked out of her trance and got to her feet, still staring at him. "Of course" she apologised. "Are you hungry Angel? she asked. He nodded "Water too" he repeated weakly. Angela turned and hurried from the room, turning back at the doorway to take another look at him lying there, with Max holding him tightly. She dropped her head and turned and ran out the door. She had to call Temperance right away.

Angela was sitting on the floor with Angel. His head was in her lap and she was feeding him blood from a spoon. "small sips Angel. I know you want more, but your body won't be ready for it." Angel stared up at her, his eyes almost black, mournful, too weak to argue, but she could see he was relishing the blood. At first he had tried to get Max to leave. He didn't want his son seeing him drinking the blood. But Max wouldn't go. He clung to his father and simply said "No". He had no energy to argue with the boy.

Temperance came bursting through the door. When Angela had gone to fetch Angel something to drink, she had phoned and left her back door open for her so she could let herself in.

"Angel! Oh my God, Angel. It's you. It's really you?" She was shocked at the sight before her. Her beautiful, handsome, strong husband was gone. In his place was a thin, pale, emaciated man. He was lying on the cold floor, his head in Angela's lap. He saw her and any doubts she had that this was not her Angel disappeared. His eyes lit up and he lifted his head and smiled at her. That was all she needed. She flew across the room and fell to the floor, gathering him up in her arms.

She tried to ignore his shoulder blades that were pressing into her arms, and the coldness of his skin. All she wanted to do was look into that face, kiss his lips and hear him tell her that he was alright.

Angel felt the tears come. He buried his face against her breasts and let them fall. His body shuddering within her embrace. He loved her so much, loved his children. He had no choice. Things had changed, his children were too young to fight by themselves. Far too young. Things had snowballed way faster than they had been expecting. He did the only thing he knew he could do to protect them.

Angel was human no more. He was what he had once been, and reviled.

A vampire.


	10. Chapter 10

The sun had finally set. Angel was being supported by Temperance and Angela. They half walked, half dragged him down the street to their home. Max had run ahead to let the other children know that their father was coming home. They were at the gate when Cordy came running down the path and stopped dead in front of them. She stood staring at the man holding onto the two women. Angel looked into the eyes of his daughter and half smiled at her. He was in so much pain right now, but his daughter needed to know it was him. _well as much of him as she was going to get now_ he thought. She didn't speak, just stared into his eyes.

She stepped forwards and kissed his cheek. "Welcome home Dad" she said. She took Angela's place, supporting her father. Angela went ahead to find Seeley.

Angel's whole body was on fire. His arms legs were shaking from the effort of shuffling down the street. His feet were bare. Under the blanket that was around his shoulders, he was wearing only a pair of pants that Temperance had pulled onto him. They were his, but they were now about two sizes too big and were hanging off his hips. Cordy and Temperance got him into the living room and sat him down on the couch heavily. Cordy immediately took charge. She could see her mother was barely holding it together and Angela had left with Seeley to go back to her house to collect some things for Angel.

Cordy was a smart girl. She knew that the man in front of her was not the man that had left the house ten days earlier. He had changed. The funny thing was, his appearance was not something she had not seen before. Her mind was being flooded with memories of her father from a time when she was very small. She remembered things like him not being able to go outside during the day. He had very pale skin, he never ate with them, he cooked meals, but used to sit and watch them most of the time, and he was always quite cool to the touch. She didn't think anything of it back then. He was her Daddy. It was just the way he was. But now, it's like something is right in front of her, but there is a fog, blurring it, so she can't quite see it.

"Cordy, can you please go and run the bath. Make the water quite warm." Temperance asked her daughter. Cordy stood just staring at her father. "Cordy? Cordy." Temperance asked again, finally getting her attention. "Sorry?" Cordy said. "I asked if you could please go and run a bath for your father. Make sure the water is very warm please." Cordy dragged her eyes away from Angel "uh, yeah. OK. Mom?" she asked. Temperance knew what was coming. "Dad's not the same is he? He's like he used to be. When I was little." Temperance stood up and walked over to her daughter. There was no point lying. They were going to find out soon anyway. "Yes. He's not the same. And yes. He is like he used to be. I'm not sure how much you and Seeley remember. Look. We will have a family meeting and discuss your father tomorrow. For now, can you please run that bath? He needs it. Please?" Temperance asked.

Cordy stared at her mother for a moment then hugged her hard. "OK Mom." she whispered into her ear "and Mom?" Temperance pulled back and looked into her daughters eyes. His eyes. "It's going to be OK" Cordy said, then she turned and ran off to the bathroom. Temperance checked the tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks and turned back to Angel. He looked up at her from the couch. He looked terrible. His eyes were so bruised and sunken. His cheekbones were protruding as were his collarbones. He had been starving. "I'm sorry Temperance" he whispered. She smiled down at him. "Nothing to apologise for. You did what you had to do. And I'm not afraid, if that's what you're thinking. Not at all."

She reached out and stroked his hair, letting her hand slip down to his cheek, and cupping his chin. "I have loved you for 17 years Angel. I'm not going to stop now." She slipped her hands under his armpits and helped him stand. "Although I may, if you don't have a bath right away" she said wrinkling her nose. _Nine days of hanging in a basement did nothing for ones personal hygiene_ she thought to herself. "Sorry" he said again. She slipped under his arm and wrapped her arm around his waist guiding him towards the basement "And please stop apologising or I may take you straight back to that basement!" she said. Angel smiled. This woman was nothing if not amazing. She had loved him, fought for him, saved him, given him a family, a life. He owed her everything. He shuffled alongside her, remembering another time when he had needed her help.

Cordy was standing by the bath watching the water filling it. "Thanks Cordy. I'll take it from here honey." she said to her daughter. Cordy looked up and suddenly turned and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He winced, but didn't ask her to stop. He needed her to know he was still her father, and that he loved her. "I'll be fine Cordy" she let go and smiled into his eyes "I know Dad. I just wanted you to know I still love you. No matter what you are." and she walked out of the bathroom.

He looked at Temperance, who shrugged. "She's not a child. She sees things. We'll talk to them tomorrow. We will have to. Everything has changed now. We will have to go back to the way we used to live. But we'll be fine. You'll be fine. Right now, we just need to get your strength back." Angel stepped over the rim of the bath and slowly lowered himself into the water with her help. He could feel the heat from the water. It was soothing. He lay back and closed his eyes. "I'm just so tired Temperance. So tired."

She sat on a stool by the bath looking at his emanciated body. His ribs were prominent, collar bones sticking out, arms and legs so thin.

"Angel" she hesitated, scared to ask "Do you remember any of it?" He closed his eyes and lay his head back "No. Nothing really. I remember laying on the table, then I remember looking down at Max. That's it" he said quietly. Temperance nodded, somewhat relieved, picked up a washcloth and wiped her eyes with it. Then swirling it in the water, she began washing his face and hair. She would care for him, as she had done before. He would be fine. She lifted his arm and noticed that the burns around his wrist were already starting to heal. Slowly, but by the morning, she knew that they would almost be gone. Once he was back to normal, _normal_ she laughed to herself. Once he had his strength back, he would heal almost immediately. Right now, his body was weak. And it would take some time. But he would recover and grow stronger. He would again be that tall strong man that she had fallen in love with. She would never think of him as anything other than a man. No matter what his physiology said.

She started making mental notes. She would need to speak to Angela about blood supplies. She would have to get the heavy drapes out of storage and have them rehung. And tomorrow, she needed to talk to the children. That was going to be the hardest thing.

How do you explain to your children that their father is no longer a human being? That he could never again walk in the light of day. That he would no longer eat a meal with them, swim in the pool with them, take them to school, go to their sporting events.

She pushed that thought away and focussed on Angel. She opened her eyes and he was staring at her. "It's going to be OK Temperance. I promise you" he said. She smiled sadly "I know." she said and stroked his cheek.

Angel closed his eyes and let himself relax into the water. He needed to regain his strength soon. And then he needed to start training. His body was ravaged by starvation. He was weak. Exhausted. But his senses were working overtime. He could hear the blood rushing through her veins. Hear her heart beating. Smell her. He had forgotten what that was like. It was thrilling and frightening. He knew that he wouldn't lose control. His soul would ensure that.

That and his love for her.


	11. Chapter 11

Angel lay in the bed, cocooned in its soft sheets and downy quilt. _Safe. Warm. Home. _ She had offered to lay with him, but he had shook his head. He wanted to be alone. Needed to be.

_alone_

He had told her that he hadn't remembered anything of the last few weeks. He had lied to her. Again. The pain in his heart was enormous, threatening to burst it. _do I even have a heart any more?_ But he couldn't tell her. Couldn't bear for her to find out what he had become.

_Who_, he had become while chained in that basement.

He remembered it all. Vividly.

* * *

The minute he had opened his eyes. Saw the familiar yellow tinge over everything. Ran his tongue over those dry lips. Felt those sharp fangs against his tongue. Felt the anger in his core. The vile thoughts in his mind. He knew what he was. Who he was.

Angelus.

* * *

He had railed against the chains that bound him. Spat obscenities at the two people who stood by the door watching him. He could smell the fear in them. Dripping from their pores. Reflected in their pathetic little human faces. It only fuelled his hunger.

"You think you can hold me. You're old and frail. Your wits cannot match mine old woman" he sneered at Angela. She should have been frightened, but she was not. Not really. She was worried. She was fearful for the man who was somewhere inside that beast chained to the wall.

Wo Pang turned to Angela "I'll go and wait upstairs" he said quietly. He glanced once at Angelus, then left.

"Run little man" Angelus called out after him, giggling.

"You don't frighten me Angelus. You can swear and spit and call me names. You can threaten me all you like. But look around you. This is no ordinary cage. Not like before. And nobody is going to come and believe you when you smile and pretend to be him. You are ensconced within a solid prison. And only I have the key." She smiled, tipping her head to the side.

"You stupid old bitch. I could snap your god damned neck like a chicken. I could suck you dry within minutes. Look at you, scrawny, shrivelled. I wouldn't even be bothered screwing you as I drained you. The thought actually makes me want to vomit" and with that he opened his mouth and spewed a rank, yellow bilious fluid at her.

Angela stepped to one side, looking down at her shoe with distaste as a glob of vomit slipped across the toe of it. She looked up at him, her jaw clenched. _Don't react Angela. Its exactly what he wants _ "Nice party trick Angelus. Vomiting on demand. Haven't seen that in a long time." She spoke as calmly as she could.

Angelus grinned, open mouthed, the remnants of the yellow fluid dripping off his chin and running down his chest. He cackled maniacally. That felt good! He lifted his head and rolled his eyes back and licked his lips. I'm hungry. Are you just going to stand there? Feed me bitch. I'd like a bit of fresh teenage girl with a pair of plump juicy ones to suck on. Can you get that for me?" he laughed. Angela stood motionless, staring at him.

"What? You and I both know you aren't going to let your precious Angel die. You _love_ him _so_ much. So run along. Get me someone to eat!" he screamed at her. Angela did not say a word. Simply turned her back and left the room, locking the door behind her. She peered at him through the peek hole. Angelus was thrashing against the chains, determined to try to break them.

She shook her head and turned away. She left the basement and went upstairs. Wo Pang was sitting at the table waiting for her. "So what do we do now? I thought you said that he wouldn't rise. That once you had reinstated his soul, the process would start to take effect. How long is he going to be like this?" she asked. Her face was pale, the worry in her eyes apparent. "He's Angelus, but he is not. He's more. Animalistic, than I remember. The Angelus I knew was cunning and intelligent and wiley. This. Thing. Is evil and abusive and vile."

Wo Pang stared at the table top, noticing the worn patina. He ran his fingers across the surface, "It will be done. This version of Angelus may have arisen but he will not be able to stay long. He simply found a small window and has poked his head through it, so to speak. Angel's soul will be too strong. It will overpower Angelus and push him back down and trap him once more. You have to remember that we are doing something no one has attempted before. We have nothing to compare it to. Perhaps what has arisen is part of the process. Perhaps it is just bad luck. We are turning a mortal man into a vampire and reinstating his human soul. Granted, it is not as strong as Angels vampire soul was, but strong just the same. We must wait to feed him until Angelus has weakened and been pulled back. Time is all we need. We must simply wait."

Angela shook her head "but wait for how long? He's right you know. We can't just let him starve. How are we going to feed him?" The mystic stared at her. "We shall just have to pass bags of blood to him without getting close to him. We cannot give him any opportunity to escape."

* * *

He was weak. But oh so angry. He was starving. His hunger was all encompassing, the only thing he could focus on. Blood, flesh, pulsing throats, sex. He wanted it. Needed it. _ That stupid old bitch. She thinks she will win. I can't wait for her to get close. I am going to snap her. I might just screw her anyway. As disgusting as it will be. I'll let her watch my face as I rip her apart." He cackled to himself, visualising the scene. _

Three days had passed since. Angelus of course had no concept of time. He was encased in a black box. Buried in the dark. He was weak now. He had not been fed, not given any sense that they were going to feed him. He could feel that tugging from within. _He_ was trying to pull him back. The internal fight was fierce. _ It would be a miracle if this pathetic excuse for a body was going to survive it._

Angela was well aware of what was happening. She would stand at the door, watching through the small tinted window. If he knew she was there, he never gave any real indication. Yes, he would scream wildly looking up at the ceiling of the prison. He was delirious most of the time. His body was weak, hanging limply from the chains now. They had to wait. Wait until Angelus was pulled back and Angel once again took control of his body. _But it was taking so long. Much longer than they had anticipated. _

On the fifth day Angela opened the hatch and peered in. What she saw was not what she was expecting. A beast like man was chained to the wall. Yellow eyes, furrowed brow, long sharp fangs, skin so pale. She ran upstairs and picked up the phone.

"Something's happened Wo Pang. It's not Angelus. But it's not Angel either. It's something else, a beast." She listened and nodded her head. "Fine. OK. I'll try" she responded. She hung up the phone and turned and looked at the refrigerator. "I guess I have to try."

* * *

She pushed the door open and slipped inside as quietly as she could. She placed a small bag on the floor and stood staring at the beast. His head was hanging, his body limp. She wasn't even sure he was alive. "Can you hear me?" she said softly, waiting for some response. Nothing. "Angel?" she said. It's head lifted slightly, a screech emanating from its mouth, the fangs glinting in the dimness of the room. The only light coming from the single bulb in the roof over near the doorway.

Angela swallowed and bent down and pulled a pouch of pigs blood from it. She had to try to get it to the beasts mouth without getting too close. She walked to the side of the room and grabbed hold of the handle of the winch. She pulled it and the chains pulled tight, stretching the creatures arms and legs tight against the wall. She shuddered as the beast screamed. Tears filled her eyes. But it had to be done.

She stepped back and picked up the pouch and pushed it onto the spike at the end of the pole she had brought in with her. She started moving closer to him. The pole extended in front of her, the pouch of blood hanging from the end. Closer. Closer. Suddenly he caught the scent of the blood. Yellow eyes opening and staring at her, ignoring the dripping pouch in front of him. "You have to eat. This is the best you're going to get. You know it. Take it." She said calmly.

His eyes flicked to the pouch, swinging in front of him. He stretched his neck out as far as he could and bit into the pouch. Dark, pungent, salty blood spurted into the back of his throat. His eyes rolled back into his head as the thick liquid filled his mouth as he sucked at the bag greedily relishing the metallic tang. Then it was gone. Pulled from his mouth. He opened his eyes, staring at the woman, the pole at her side, held like a spear. She nodded at him. "I'll be back tomorrow" She walked back to the winch controls and released the tension slightly. The beast whimpered slightly as his body dropped.

Angela walked back to the door. Picked up her pole and bag and glanced back once, "I know you're in there Angel. You have to fight harder to come back", she said, then left. She closed the door behind her, locking it, then leaned against it. Her eyes closed. Her heart was pounding, sweat beading her brow. "I am too old for this rubbish" she thought to herself. Then, taking a deep breath, left the basement. _you're not and you know it_ resonating in her brain.

The beast licked his lips, trying to capture any last drops of blood that may have escaped his mouth. He could feel it deep within his body seeping into his system. Feeding him. Making him stronger. But not strong enough to escape his chains. He felt his anger rise and howled, pulling against the chains, but getting nowhere.

Day after day passed the same way. She would come, feed him and leave. Enough to keep him alive, not enough to build his strength. He would fight against his chains, screaming. His head feeling as though it would explode. His limbs straining, ligaments and sinew tightening. But always, the chains held him fast.

Until that day.

The day a small child dared to approach him. Dared to look him in the eye and speak kind words to him. Dared to lay his tiny hands upon him. The pain that overwhelmed him at the touch of that child, threatened to drive him over the edge, but didn't. As the pain reached its crescendo a light burst into him. Filled him. Engulfed his mind. Memories, visions of people, places. Feelings. Emotions. Sensations. It hurt. It hurt more than anything he had endured. Then darkness. He remembered opening his eyes. Things looked different. Lighter. Clearer. He remembered looking down into the face of an angel. A child. His saviour. Max.

* * *

Angel opened his eyes. A tiny hand was stroking his face. Two bright blue eyes stared into his, glistening with tiny unfallen tears. "I'm sorry Daddy" she said, leaning in and kissed his lips. He pulled back from her, scared of his own reaction. But she simply climbed onto the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling his chest. He wanted to push her away, but he couldn't. This was his baby girl. "Kathy" he croaked. "It's OK Daddy. You'll be OK. You won't hurt us" she whispered. His eyes filled with tears. There it was. His fear. Laid out for the world to see, by a child. "You'll never hurt us Daddy. You're different now. But you're the same." she said. She pulled away and sat up and smiled at him. "You're our Daddy. And you love us. And we love you. Mummy's made dinner. Come and have dinner with us" she said pulling at his hand.

Angel resisted. Worried. Still scared of himself. But Kathy's insistent tugging on his hand forced him to swallow down his fear. He sat up and got off the bed, following his daughter into the kitchen. He stood at the doorway, looking at the scene in front of him. Seeley and Cordy, so grown up now. Grinning at him. Max. His brave little Max. Who had saved him. Kathy who had taken her seat beside him.

_And her_.

Temperance stood staring at him. Her eyes wet with tears. Dark shadows beneath them. Pale skin. And then she was upon him. Lips. Arms. Hands. He could smell her, feel her. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. The smell and sound of her blood pounding in his head. But he had no desire to bite. He just wanted to hold and be held by this woman who was everything to him.

"Angel" she whispered.

"I'm home"


	12. Chapter 12

They lay side by side in their marriage bed. She trying to curl around him, but he was just so rigid. "Angel. It's OK. This is me. Your wife. Please?" she begged him, her voice shaking. Being rejected by him was terrifying. He tried to shake of the feeling of fear, but he couldn't. He was afraid. _He had not been a vampire for over ten years, but the memories haunted him always. He wanted to be a mortal man, but he couldn't. He had made a choice. And here he lay. In a mortal man's bed, next to a mortal woman. What if..._

Finally Temperance pulled away from him and sat up in the bed. Her fear had turned to anger. Thumping the pillows behind her with her fists and crossing her arms. He turned his head slightly. "We need to talk about this Angel" she said firmly. He turned away "I'm. I'm tired." he whispered. She pulled his arm "No. You're not. You are avoiding me. And this" she said gesturing at his body. "We are going to talk. You need to talk to me" she said her voice insisting. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Now Angel." she demanded.

Angel knew that there was no getting away from it. She had always been able to worm her way into his head. As she was now. Knocking on his brain, demanding to be let in. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He became aware of her staring at him. "I'd forgotten that you didn't breathe" she said quietly. He glanced down at his chest and watched it not rising and falling. Angel forced himself to take a large breath. "Don't do it for my sake. I'd just forgotten." she said, laying her hand on his chest. "And you're so cool. I remember when I used to lay my face on your chest when it was hot." He turned and stared into her eyes, so blue, glistening.

He pushed himself up and shoved a pillow behind his back. "OK. You're right. We need to talk. First. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I did this to you. But you need to understand" Temperance raised a hand "You haven't done anything to me Angel. And I do understand why you've done this. Angela and I talked a lot over the last couple of weeks. A lot. But what I want to know is what happened to you. Angela wouldn't tell me. I want to know. I need to know. I want to know how Max was involved in all of this. And don't try to tell me he wasn't. I know he was. He told me. And Kathy was pushing odd things into my head at night. So, right now. You are going to tell me everything." Angel shuffled uncomfortably "I don't remember anything" he mumbled. She pulled his face to hers and stared into his eyes. "Tell me again you don't remember anything Angel. Tell me while looking at me, and I won't ask you again."

That was it. He was trapped. Backed into a corner. He could not lie to her. He'd done enough of that over the years and failed. She always knew. She could read him like a book. And part of him was glad. "OK. But it's not nice. I can't tell you that things went well Temperance. Because they really didn't. I became something bad."

Angel recounted everything he could remember about the last couple of weeks to her. He was honest. Brutally so. He could see the horror and the disgust in the back of her eyes, but she never said anything. He felt ashamed at times. But it was the only way.

"So Angelus came back. I mean, that didn't surprise me. He was always part of you, but the beast? I don't know what to think of that. It must have been terrifying for poor Angela." she hesitated "But what I don't understand is how Max changed it all?" she said, her brow furrowed and her eyes questioning. confused. Angel stared up at the ceiling. "I don't really understand it myself. I was a wild thing. so angry. I was literally a monster. I remember seeing him and wanting to just drain him." he glanced at her, apologetically. Her reaction resulting in one more thing to feel guilty about. "I didn't know who he was Temperance. I wouldn't have known you either. I wasn't me when I was chained to that wall." he sighed, but continued "I remember he came right up to me. With no fear. Like he knew who I was. I remember him reaching up and putting a hand on me." his voice catching in his throat.

"Temperance, it was like I was on fire. The pain. unbearable. Then all these flashes started. The room lit up like it was full of fireworks. My eyes were burning, my throat was on fire. And the pictures in my head. There were thousands of them. Right from the moment Max was born and I held him. Kathy. Cordy and Seeley. You. Oh you Temperance. You and your eyes. Our whole life was there in that child's hands. He pushed it all into me. Forced me to remember who I was." he trailed off.

Wiping a tear from his cheek, which was followed by another, and another. He turned and buried his face in her chest. The realisation of what he had gone through, breaking her heart. And the knowledge that he did it all for her and the children. _To save them. To protect them. To fight for them. _Temperance sat staring ahead, then slowly wrapped her arms around him and hugged him to her. Her own tears falling on his hair.

_She had him back. That was all that mattered to her right now. And all because a ten year old boy had the courage to see his father trapped in a monster and call him back._


	13. Chapter 13

The weeks following that eventful night passed quickly. They were busy. Rearranging their schedules, Setting the house up to accommodate a vampire's way of life, rehanging all the heavy drapes they had used for blacking out windows, and then there was Angel's job. That was tricky. He wanted to keep working, but he couldn't keep on doing the job he was doing now. His security managers position was a day job. Angel decided that he was going to have to give it away. He called his boss and told him that he was ill again. His throat was constricted as he spoke to Graham. This man had supported him and been there for him. Rearranging shifts for him, whatever he had ever needed. And here he was lying to him. Again. "Whatever you need Joe, you just call me. And when you are well again, you have a job here, whenever you are ready." Graham assured him. Angel thanked him quietly and hung up the phone.

He turned his doleful brown eyes on Temperance. "That was horrible. I hated lying to him. You know he's holding a job for me, anytime I want it." he said to Temperance. "This is all such a mess. I am starting to wonder if I've done the right thing." he trailed off. Kathy walked into the room and stepped up to her father and climbed up onto his lap. She leaned against his chest and stared up at his face. "You didn't have a choice Daddy." she said quietly. "I know you are hurting in here" she pointed at his chest. She lay her face against his chest listening to the silence within him. "You're heart is very quiet again" she said pressing her ear to his chest harder. He looked over her head at Temperance, who shrugged. "It'll be loud again one day" she added looking up at her father. He held her face between his hands and kissed her forehead. "It will Kathy. It really will." _God I hope it will_

They had sat the children down soon after Angel had come home. He and Temperance had tried to explain about what Angel had done. What he had become. What he had been. Seeley and Cordy surprised them. They had memories of when Angel had been vampiric during their early years. Seeley had told them that he always remembered how cold Angel's skin had been. And how he often noticed that Angel didn't breathe like they did. Cordy also remembered his cold skin and she told them about how she used to lie with her head on his chest when she was little and how quiet it was compared to her mother's beating heart. They also remembered the fairy lights and the wonderland they played in at night with their father.

Max and Kathy were more confused. They were only ten. They had only ever know their father as human. They had no memories of him being any other way. For them, it was hard. He couldn't take them to school any more, or go to their sports games, or take them to the park. They were going to have to explain to friends why their house was always dark during the day. How the large picture windows were always covered up to stop the sun penetrating into the rooms. Angel had demonstrated to them what happened to him when the sun came in contact with his skin. They were both horrified and fascinated as smoke started rising from his hand.

Temperance had told them that they could never tell anyone the real reason. People didn't understand about people like their Daddy. They would either not believe them and call them liars. Or they would be frightened and not want to be their friends any more. So they had agreed to just say that their Dad had gotten sick and could not be in the sun at all because it affected his skin and his eyes. Angel hated that his children were now caught up in his lies. But there was no other way.

Max especially showed a great amount of interest in Angel's physical state. He would often walk up to Angel and place his hands on his face, checking his temperature. And the biggest draw for Max was Angels diet. The blood. They had worked so hard to teach Max that his taste for blood was not good. And now. Now he was around it every day. Angel tried to only drink when Max was at school. But weekends were not easy. He could smell it the moment Angel got the pouches out of the fridge they had in the basement. He would come running and sit, chin in hand and watch Angel pour it into a mug and heat it in the microwave. He tried several times to get Angel to let him taste it. But Angel had remained adamant. If he had anything to do with it, Max was not going to drink blood. Ever.

And by far, the very hardest thing was explaining why Angel had done what he had. They had to go back to the beginning. Explaining who and what Wolfram & Hart was. How they had always been trying to get to Angel. To destroy him. And now, it seemed it was Max and Kathy that was in their sights. Angel had pretty much dropped off their radar. He was, of course, human. And a human was of no interest to them. But the biological children of a former vampire? That was a much different prospect.

To the outside world. The human world. Wolfram & Hart were a large, extremely successful legal firm. They won. A lot. They handled property and personal litigation. They represented two thirds of the businesses in town. They were the number one choice for political representation. But underneath the surface. Well, they were a much darker organisation. They were connected to some of the most evil entities to ever walk upon the earth. They dated back hundreds of years. They were purveyors of evil and death. They bought and sold creatures, magic, artefacts. And they had one major agenda. To resurrect the most evil in the world and dominate human kind, something they had been trying to do forever.

Angela Anderson had provided Angel with a plethora of information about their current activities. She still had secure contacts, thankfully. Wolfram & Hart had been secretly building an army. Made up of the lowest scum of the underworld. Demons and monsters that nobody had seen in decades. Slowly flooding into the sewers and tunnels underneath their headquarters. Somehow, Angel had to get to Arcadian Solverse, the newest CEO, and kill him. If he could be exterminated, and the building destroyed they might have a chance. And most of all, the hole in the world must be closed. Once and for all.

Temperance and the children had sat, listening to Angela explain. Or try to explain, the situation. She had felt her mouth opening and closing on occasion, desperate to ask questions, but knowing that there was no point until Angela was finished. Angel stood to the side. His arms crossed over his chest, a deep frown, furrowing his brow. His eyes hooded and his lips pressed tightly together. He gave no indication of what he was thinking. Temperance tried to get his attention, willing him to look at her, but he remained focussed on Angela. Seeley and Cordy were both gripping the arms of their chairs. Kathy was seated, her legs crossed, her eyes closed. Her lips were moving almost unnoticeably, she was repeating most of what Angela was saying.

Max was the only one who seemed uninterested in what was going on. He was sitting, staring out the window, his legs swinging backwards and forwards. At one point one of his shoes flew off and hit the wall. The noise making everyone jump. Cordy yelled at him. Seeley retrieved his shoe and handed it to him and told him to pay attention. Temperance walked over to him and proceeded to put his shoe back on and tie the laces for him. Angel and Angela just stared at each other. Suddenly, Angel's mouth twitched on one side. Then the other side pulled up, dimpling his cheek. And finally a chuckle emanated from his mouth. Temperance, glanced up and he caught her eye, his own were twinkling. She looked down at Max's foot and realised that he had kicked off both shoes and she had put his left shoe on his right foot. She glanced up at Max who was sniggering behind his hand, looking so much like his father. Kathy had stopped her murmuring and was giggling. Even Angela had started to laugh, her voice twittering like some strange bird. And that was it, the tension was broken and laughter was rippling through them all.

Once they had settled down from Max's timely interruption, Angel stepped in front of them and cleared his throat. "I suppose this is the time I need to ask you all. Do you trust me to take care of this? If I fail, you will have to leave. Pack up everything and just disappear." He stared at each one in turn. Cordy stood up "What do you mean 'pack up and disappear'? Are you saying we have to move away?" she asked. Angel swallowed, staring at the toe of his shoe, and nodded. "Yes" he finally said, lifting his face and looking at her squarely "Yes, that's exactly what I mean. You will have to grab everything you need and get out. And you can't wait for me to come back. The reality is Cordy, if I fail, I won't be coming back." he hesitated. The look on her face making the lump in his throat double in size. "I'm not leaving without you Dad" she said firmly "I won't" she added. "Cordy, we won't have a choice sweetie" Temperance tried to rest her hand on her daughters arm, but Cordy slapped her away. "Don't treat me like I'm Kathy. I am NOT going to leave without Dad. I don't care what you say. You can't make me leave him here." she was screaming now, tears pouring down her face. Cordy didn't cry often. The reality of what Angel was saying was clear to her and she could not accept it. The idea that her father would die trying to save them all was inconceivable.

Seeley stepped up next to her and stood quietly. She turned and stared at him, her eyes glistening with tears. He handed her a handkerchief and nodded. "Dad will be fine, Cordy. He's just talking in a last resort sense. We won't have to leave without him. And even if we do, he'll find us. Won't you Dad?" he said, turning his blue eyes on Angel, begging him to just say yes. Angel swallowed, his mouth was dry. Lying to his family, trying to make light of what he was going to try to do. It was so hard, it made him feel sick. He nodded. Hoping it would be enough. His eyes turning on Temperance. He could sense her distress, smell her fear, hear her heart beating much faster than it should be. He stepped over to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest. "I'll be fine. And when I get home. Angela and Wo Pang are going to return me to human. Aren't you Angela?" he said turning his head and nodding to the old woman.

Angela stared at him, then forced herself to nod. "We're going to do everything we can to return your Dad to the way he was honey." she tried to reassure Cordy. She wasn't entirely sure that this was possible. They had stored his human essence, just as they had stored Angel's vampire soul all those years ago. She just hoped that he returned to them. What happened after that, well, they would just deal with it all then. She couldn't bring herself to think that far ahead right now. Cordy sniffed and mopped at her eyes with the handkerchief, annoyed with herself for getting so emotional. She hated crying in front of people. It was weakness to do so. She coughed and shoved the handkerchief into her pocket. "You better" she muttered pointing at her father, walking over and wrapping her arms around Angel. "You're my Dad. You'll always be my Dad. I don't care if your skin is cold, or that your heart doesn't beat, or that you aren't human. You're going to give me away at my wedding." Seeley laughed out loud "You said you're never going to get married!" Cordy's head snapped around "Shut up Seeley. I might. And Dad will be there." she growled, squeezing her father a little tighter. Angel kissed the top of her head and hugged her back "I'll do everything in my power honey. _Everything_" he added holding her upper arms and pushing her back so he could look into her eyes, "I promise you."


End file.
